Effect of short-term controlled atmospheres and maturity on ripening and eating quality of tomatoes

doi:10.1016/S0925-5214(97)00021-5

Postharvest Biology and Technology

Volume 11, Issue 3, July 1997, Pages 149-154

https://doi.org/10.1016/S0925-5214(97)00021-5 Get rights and content

Abstract

Mature green, breaker, and pink `Bermuda' tomatoes (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) were treated in air, 0.5% O₂ for 1 day, or 80% CO₂ for 1 or 2 days at 22°C before ripening in air at 22°C. Headspace ethanol (EtOH) and acetaldehyde (AA), soluble solids (SS), titratable acidity (TA), and pH were measured, and sensory quality was determined using descriptive analysis with a trained panel. Some ripening delay of 1–2 days was observed due to low O₂ and 2 days of high CO₂. EtOH and AA production increased more with increasing fruit maturity and with low O₂ at these maturities; both volatiles dissipated to trace amounts before fruit were eating ripe in all treatments. Aroma and taste were not enhanced by any treatment/ripeness combinations, although 80% CO₂ for 2 days marginally increased the sweetness and blandness of the fruit. Soluble solids, titratable acidity and pH were not different between treatments or ripening stages.

Introduction

One of the main problems with fresh consumption of tomatoes in Australia is that the fruit are perceived to lack flavour, both in taste and aroma (McGlasson et al., 1982, Dyke, 1993). Many of the problems associated with this are related to maturity and/or ripeness stage at harvest (Kader et al., 1977). Vine-ripe fruit are considered to have a better flavour, but fruit at this stage is easily damaged during harvesting and postharvest handling. Thus it is common commercial practice for fruit to be harvested at the mature green or partially ripe stage and then ripened with or without ethylene before or during marketing (Bisogni et al., 1976, McGlasson et al., 1982).

It has been shown that postharvest treatments using short-term controlled atmospheres (CA) or exposure of fruit to volatile compounds such as AA or EtOH can improve the flavour of several fruit and maintain quality. For example, CA treatments can improve the flavour of strawberries (Pesis and Avissar, 1990), feijoas (Pesis et al., 1991), and citrus (Shaw et al., 1990). High CO₂ has improved the taste of apples (Pesis et al., 1994). Short exposure to AA or EtOH has been claimed to improve taste and increase sugar levels of tomatoes (Paz et al., 1981). However, Paz et al. (1981)presented no statistical measures for sugar content, and flavour acceptability, when analysed statistically, was not significantly different between treatments; the one least significant difference presented for hedonic flavour differences was the same for three different fruit. Therefore this study can not be considered as reliable. Another study on tomatoes found that 2–4 ml kg⁻¹ EtOH for 2 h extended the ripening time for fruit at a number of maturity stages by up to 1 week, while an informal taste test found no difference (Saltveit and Sharaf, 1992). However, again this study was not very convincing as no data were presented for the taste test and fruit were of a poor quality with a low sugar content. Ripening was also inhibited by 0.2–0.4% AA for 24 h, but the effect on taste was not reported (Pesis and Marinansky, 1993).

AA and EtOH were induced by short term low O₂ or high CO₂ in breaker tomatoes (Klieber et al., 1996) and their levels peaked one day after and on removal to air, respectively. Ripening was delayed by the treatments, but by the time fruit were eating ripe, AA and EtOH levels were similar to control levels. We therefore investigated whether AA and EtOH induction by short term high CO₂ and low O₂ treatments at 22°C could be manipulated by using different ripening stages, whether AA and EtOH persisted differently in different ripening stages, and whether the aroma and flavour of tomatoes cv. `Bermuda' could be improved by these treatments.

Section snippets

Fruit

Mature green, breaker and pink tomatoes (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill., cv. Bermuda) were hand-picked from commercial producers in Helidon or Gatton areas, Southeast Queensland, Australia. Fruit were transported to the laboratory for cleaning and drying at room temperature. Healthy fruit of uniform appearance were carefully matched and treated in flow-through humidified gas (RH 70%) containing 21% O₂, 0.5% O₂+N₂ for 1 day, or 80% CO₂+air for 1 or 2 days. All fruit were treated on the day of

Volatile production

Control samples stored in air did not produce detectable levels of AA or EtOH and fruit became eating ripe by 4 to 8 days after harvest, depending on the maturity stage at harvest (Table 1). A 1 day low O₂ treatment induced AA and EtOH production. Peak production levels increased significantly with harvest maturity from 52 to 123 μl kg⁻¹ h⁻¹ for EtOH and from 13 to 62 μl kg⁻¹ h⁻¹ for AA from mature green and pink fruit, respectively. Both volatiles dissipated to undetectable levels in 3–5 days

Discussion

Ripening time declined in all treatments with increasing harvest maturity. However, the ripening delay experienced by breaker stage fruit due to the altered atmosphere was less in the present study than found by Klieber et al. (1996); also, the relative ripening delay between treatments compared to the control varied with maturity. The delay in ripening is believed to be due to the EtOH content of the tissues (Saltveit and Sharaf, 1992). Ripening was also inhibited by exposure to 0.2–0.4% AA

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Effect of short-term controlled atmospheres and maturity on ripening and eating quality of tomatoes

Abstract

Introduction

Section snippets

Fruit

Volatile production

Discussion

Quality comparisons of room ripened and field ripened tomatoes

J. Food Sci.

Structure of the tomato Adh2 gene and Adh2 pseudogenes, and a study of Adh2 gene expression in fruit

Plant Mol. Biol.

Effect of fruit ripeness when picked on flavour and composition in fresh market tomatoes

J. Am. Soc. Hort. Sci.

Effect of endogenously synthesized and exogenously applied ethanol on tomato fruit ripening

J. Am. Soc. Hort. Sci.

Effects of low oxygen and high carbon dioxide on tomato cv Bermuda fruit physiology and composition

Scientia Hortic.

Influence of harvest maturity and ripening temperature on acceptability of North Queensland fresh market tomatoes

Food Technol. Aust.

Enhancement of fruit sensory quality by post-harvest applications of acetaldehyde and ethanol

J. Food Sci.